HSBC adds four to Asia ECM

HSBC's newly installed Asian ECM head, George Pavey, has made four new hires within his first week in the job. Three of the four hail from Deutsche Bank's imploding ECM team, although each is said to have been hired separately rather than been poached as a team.

The biggest hire is Alexis Adamczyk, who will become a director overseeing Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as providing support in Korea. He will start on June 1 and be one of three directors alongside syndicate head Edmund Wong and Tom Lanners, who runs South-East Asia and India.

The second hire is Rui Nie, who will be a vice president in the China team, which Pavey will spend most of his time running. Greater China will unsurprisingly remain the biggest focus for HSBC, which intends to take a much more aggressive stance towards business in its own backyard.

As one banker notes, "HSBC wants to start running a significant proportion of ECM business for Hong Kong corporates, whether that be IPO's of subsidiaries, block trades, or convertibles. The breadth of the bank's retail distribution platform gives it an obvious edge for government privatization mandates and in China, the strength of its lending business and relationships means many deals come onto its radar screens long before US investment banks know about them."

HSBC's Asian ECM team now encompasses 11 members including two analysts and four associates. Of this number, associate Roy Lam numbers the third new hire this week and a fourth has also been appointed, though yet to be announced.

Pavey hopes to take the team up to about 14 to 15 over the next few months, with the possibility of one more senior hire.